Chapter 13

TRIS POV

The next morning, we walk into the school holding hands and Four kisses me on the cheek before we separate in the lobby to go down separate hallways to our respective lockers. We aren't doing anything wrong, and there is no reason that anyone should be paying any particular attention to us, but I feel so exposed! I've never had a boyfriend before, and I can't seem to keep the smile off my face.

I have just reached my locker, I am staring at it trying to remember my locker combination and pretend that my world isn't spinning when Christina pops up next to me and leans on the locker next to me. I turn my head to say hello and see her face. She looks ANGRY, her face is twisted into an ugly scowl. "What... the hell... was that, Tris?"

"What are you talking about, Chris? You look pissed. What did I do?" My good mood just evaporates. What could I possibly have done to make my friend look at me like that?

Christina stands up straight from the lockers and takes a menacing step towards me as she whispers, "Don't play stupid Tris, it doesn't suit you. You know perfectly well what I am talking about. I just saw you with Four."

"Ok, so you saw me with him. Why are you so angry? We didn't do anything wrong, what is going on?" I am bewildered and shocked, I look around me and see that there are students everywhere around us at their lockers, grabbing books or putting away their lunch. Any one of them could hear our conversation right now.

Christina continues, "This was your plan all along wasn't it? You want them all don't you, Four, and Will and Al? You're such a fucking slut!"

I hold both my hands up, willing her to be quiet. "Whoa, Christina, I am not a slut! Why would you say that? I don't want Will! Or Al. In fact, I turned Al down and never even answered Will when he asked me out. I know you like him, Chris. I don't want to get in the way of that. I don't want either of them! I didn't want any of them, not that it is any business of yours who I date! We don't have time for this conversation right now, we are going to be late for class." I shut my locker with a clang, louder than I probably should have but it is too late now to do anything about that.

Christina is fuming now, her cheeks are flushed and she takes a deep breath, probably to scream at me again, but I just turn and walk away before she can say anything else hateful to me. My eyes are burning and I just pray I don't start to cry in the hallway. I feel like everyone I pass is staring at me and heard her call me a slut. I am new here. No one knows me. She is popular and everybody knows her; they will believe whatever she says, and there is nothing I can do about it.

When I am about ten feet away I hear her yell out, "Go off and make eyes at your boyfriend in Spanish class, slut!" I feel like someone just kicked me in the stomach, but I keep walking.

By the time I make it to Spanish and sit next to Four, I am furious, and on the brink of tears. I always cry when I am really angry and frustrated, which is all the more frustrating! He takes one look at me and is alarmed, my face must be giving everything away, but there is no time to explain what happened to make me so upset. Class is starting and I have to get a hold of myself. I just shake my head, mouth the words 'I'll tell you later' and try to focus on class.

Over the course of the hour I calm down, at least outwardly. Inside, my mind is still racing. Why would she say such hateful things? Surely she doesn't really think I would want all three guys? I am not a slut! Why is she so angry? Who cares if I date Four? Could she actually be that jealous of me? Why? My hands twitch with the effort to not ball them into fists. I am furious at the ridiculous unfairness of it all.

The bell rings and I gather up my notes and shove them in my bag. I don't even care that they aren't in the folder and will get wrinkled and probably lost. In two seconds, Tobias is there, touching my arm to make me stop shoving things into my bag. His eyes searching my face, full of concern and questions, but I can't tell him what Christina said. I can't bring myself to repeat the filthy lies or speculate for even one minute on what she thinks of me.

"I can't talk about it now, Four. I'll be late to homeroom," I say as I try to brush past him. He reaches out to grab my arm and stop me before I can get anywhere.

"Tell me what happened after I left you in the lobby. You won't be late."

"Nothing happened," I say quietly, and know he won't believe me.

"Don't lie to me, Tris. I can see your face right now, I have seen it for the last hour. Something happened to upset you. Tell me what it is. Maybe I can help." He looks so concerned and something else. He looks afraid, but why? What would me being upset make him afraid of?

I sigh and turn to face him, I sit back on the top of the desk and cross my arms around myself. "Christina said some hateful things to me this morning."

He shifts his weight from foot to foot and his expression relaxes, "Why would she do that?"

"I have no idea why. She thinks I want all of you. You and Will and Al, and that makes me...nevermind. I have to go or I'll be late for homeroom."

I stand up, but Tobias doesn't move out of my way. "Tris, this is clearly a misunderstanding. I'm sure she doesn't really mean whatever she said this morning. She is your friend, it doesn't make any sense."

"As of an hour ago, I am pretty sure we aren't friends!" I look up at his face and can't tell what he is thinking. He obviously isn't as upset as I am over this, but why would he be. This isn't about him, it's about me. Absolutely no one cares that he is the one who kissed me in the lobby! It's all so unfair. "Please let me pass, I don't want to cry here in class, please let me go." He steps aside and lets me walk by without touching me again, but I can feel his eyes on me as I walk away.

I walk slowly to my homeroom and sit in my desk behind Uriah without talking to anyone. I have regained my composure, but I don't know if it will hold. He turns to me with a deck of cards in his hand ready to be dealt. Last week he started bringing them for us to play speed during homeroom and lunch. When he sees my face the smile on his disappears, "Tris! What happened? You look like you're about to cry. Who did it? Tell me the guy's name, and I'll go kick his ass. I swear I will! Four and Zeke can help. You can watch. It will be fun! Just give me the bastard's name."

Ok, so judging by Uriah's assessment, I haven't regained all my composure. I take a shaky breath in and let it out. "Uriah, thanks, but I don't think that is the solution." I shake my head and am trying to keep my face under control. I can not cry in homeroom and I am frightfully close to doing just that.

He won't drop it, though. "Sure it is. Just tell me who hurt you and I'll beat them up. No one makes my Trissy cry and gets away with it!"

He might be joking, or he might be serious. It is hard to tell with a Pedrad because they're always smiling. Either way I have no intention of telling Uriah what happened with Christina this morning. I really don't know how to handle it, but spreading it around the school is the opposite of what I want to do. I really just want to pretend it never happened, but that won't solve anything. I need to get Christina alone and talk to her. Tobias is probably right and it is just a massive misunderstanding. Maybe if I can just talk to her it will all get sorted out without any more drama.

"Thanks Uriah, but I think this is something I have to handle on my own." I reach out and squeeze his hand, the one not holding the deck of cards. "It means a lot to me though, that you would offer to stand up for me, no questions asked."

"That was not just an offer. It's what friends do, Tris. They stick up for each other, and try to cheer each other up when someone pisses in their cornflakes! You, for sure, got pissflakes this morning! Tell me what I can do?" He looks so sincere. I think for a moment and realize he has gone out of his way since the moment he met me to make me feel welcome and part of the group. Maybe I can tell him the truth.

"First, never call me Trissy again, Ok? Second, there is no guy. None that needs their ass kicked, anyway. I am upset because of Christina. She said some horrible things to me this morning and I haven't had time to process and settle yet. There really isn't anything that you can do to help me, Uriah. I need to handle this on my own with her. Please, promise me you won't talk to her about it!? It would make things worse and not better, believe me."

"How could me trying to help you make things worse?"

"It just would, ok?"

"Tris, you have to tell me a little bit more. I won't talk to her if that is what you want, but you have to tell me what this is about. I can't help you if I don't understand."

"Fine, you are right and you will probably hear all about it before long anyway. Chris called me a slut in the hallway this morning. Loud enough for lots of people to hear."

"Why the hell would she do that?"

"I don't know. She saw me walk in with Four, saw him kiss me and then bam! The next thing I knew she was there next to me spewing hate and lies."

"Four kissed you?" he hoots and slaps his hand on the desk.

"Uriah, focus please? She knows that Will and Al asked me out last week, and then she saw me walk in with Four this morning. She thinks I am working all three of them….and that makes me a slut."

"Will and Al asked you out?"

"Yes. Well, to be fair, Al asked me out, and Will sort of did in a round-about way. I didn't realize he had asked me out until Four told me."

"Four was there too? Wait, forget all that and back up to the part where he kissed you. Where did he kiss you?"

"On the cheek."

"No, where were you when he kissed you?"

"Oh, in the south lobby. He kissed me on my cheek before we split up to go to our lockers before class. Uriah, none of any of this makes me a slut! This is all just a huge misunderstanding and maybe if I can just talk to her, she will see she was wrong."

"I hope so Tris, but if I know Chris like I think I do, she won't want to be wrong about you. She may dig her heels in and be stubborn about it. Maybe she will realize she was wrong, but I doubt she will apologize for what she said. Either way, if it was as loud and public as you say, it may not matter if she tries to take it back. The damage may already be done. You're new here and people don't know you yet. They may believe what they hear about you unless we all stand by you and set the record straight. You don't want me to talk to Christina, let me talk to Will and Al. We have English with Al and History with Will."

Uriah is still trying to convince me to let him help by talking to the guys, to see if they'll stand with me, admit they asked me out and I said no when we walk into Geometry class. Peter Hayes is sitting on his desk at the front of the class holding court. He turns to smirk at us when Uriah and I walk in and sit down. The seats are alphabetical here too so we sit together. Peter turns back around and says loud enough for us and half the class to hear, "I guess she's after him too...wonder what it is she has to offer them all?" He glances back at us and his tone is suggestive enough he doesn't have to say what it is he thinks I am offering. I feel my cheeks flame in embarrassment.

Uriah pops up out of his desk and I scramble to grab his arm. "Uriah!" I whisper through clenched teeth, "You can't do anything about it. Please just leave it alone, or you'll make it worse! Just sit down and ignore him."

Uriah sits back down slowly and turns to me to say quietly but with more focused determination on his face than I have seen before, "Tris, I now have someone's ass to kick and I assure you, nothing you say will prevent me and my brother and his best friend from doing just that. It may not happen today, but it will happen and we will all take joy in beating Peter to a pulp. He has had it coming for years, and now he just pushed me past the point of no return."

I hang my head and stare at the ceiling tiles. "I just want this day to be over already."

SHAUNA POV

I have been fuming since the second period when Laura filled me in on what was going on with Tris this morning. I knew something was up when she walked into Spanish, but had no idea it was this big. I don't have any classes with Christina, but I am sure I can find her in the dining hall at lunch time. I'd prefer to have a private conversation, and as luck would have it, there she is waiting behind a group of students to go through the double doors into her next class.

"Christina, do you have a minute?" I ask and walk to the far side of the hall.

She steps away from a couple of cheerleaders. "Sure, Shauna, what is it?"

I get right to the point. "Did you have words with Tris in the hallway this morning?"

She smiles and looks a little uncomfortable. "Words? I don't know what you mean?"

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I am referring to, but I will state it plainly in case you want to play dumber than you actually are. You made accusations this morning, and regardless of whether they were true or not, decided to take matters into your own hands and call her a slut for anyone to hear. I don't have to tell you the potential and likely effect that will have on her reputation here at school do I?"

She flips her hair over her shoulder and crosses her arms across her chest, defiant. "Who cares, Shauna? Why do you care what people think of her? She's a nobody."

"I care because it isn't true and you know it! What on earth possessed you to do this? She is your friend!"

"She isn't my friend! I only met her last week. We all did, and now somehow she is the only thing anyone can talk about. All the guys are obsessed with her and I don't know why. What does she have that is so special? Even Four watches her, and he has never paid any attention to girls before. Why now, why her?"

"You mean, why not you, don't you? Christina, is all of this about the fact that Tris is getting attention instead of you? Grow up you spoiled little shit! This is behavior unbecoming a TZR, and I hereby strip you of your member privileges pending behavioral review."

Her mouth drops open and her arms fall to her side in shock, "What?! You can't do that!"

"Oh, yes I can. I am the president of our sorority and I most certainly can do that. You are banned from meetings and events of any kind, and you are forbidden to wear the letters of Theta Zeta Rho until you have been reinstated, if you ever are. Do you understand me?"

"Shauna, that isn't fair!" she whines and looks around for someone to come to her defense.

"Fair? Who are you to talk about fair right now? You did everything you could to ruin her today and don't even show an ounce of remorse for it."

"Come on Shauna, no one will even care about what I said tomorrow. She isn't that important!"

"Then why are you so threatened by her? Ask yourself that. What is it about her that makes you so jealous?"

"She's just a little girl. She looks like she is twelve. She isn't pretty. Why do the guys all watch her? Will asked her out, did you know that?"

"Did she say yes?"

"No. But that isn't the point."

"Yes. It is the point. Both Will and Al asked her out, and she turned them both down."

"What about Four? I saw him kiss her in the lobby this morning!"

"What about Four? You have no claim on him, and no control over the other guys either. So I suggest you shut your mouth about her and think of a way to undo some of the damage you have caused. In the meantime, you should find a new place to eat at lunch, because I doubt you will be welcome at the table."

I leave Christina gaping and walk to my next class, thinking about the conversation I just had and hoping I didn't just make the situation worse than it already was for Tris. Normally, disciplinary action would be decided by the sorority council. The TZR bylaws are clear that if any sister should deliberately act to harm another sister, physically or emotionally, they shall be barred. The sisterhood is intended for women to lift each other up and support, not tear each other down over petty squabbles and bruised egos. Christina showed herself to be unworthy by her actions this morning, and just confirmed them. She will have to answer to the council for her actions sooner or later, but for now she is out of the picture.

TRIS POV

Shauna finds me in the hall before lunch and asks me to walk in with her. I hesitate, knowing what may be waiting for me in the cafeteria, I don't want her to get sucked into the quicksand with me. "Shauna, I am not sure you want to do that today. It hasn't been the best day for me and I don't want my, er, bad luck to rub off on you."

Shauna smiles at me and reaches out to lightly squeeze one of my arms. "Tris, I heard about your bad luck, and don't worry about it. It has been handled already. You won't be hearing from Christina again for a little while, and shouldn't be seeing her at the table today.'

I am instantly mad, "What did Uriah do? He promised me he wouldn't talk to her!"

"He didn't. I did." She tries to reassure me.

"Why did you do that Shauna? This just makes it so much worse. I can fight my own battles, at least I can when I know there is one! I don't need you all to fight them for me. She ambushed me this morning or I'd have been able to defend myself against her accusations."

"That's just it, Tris. She should never have made those accusations. First, they aren't true. Second, she has sworn an oath upon entry to the Sisterhood of Theta Zeta Rho to uphold and support our values, which include not intentionally harming another woman either physically or emotionally. What she did this morning, violates our bylaws and I was within my rights as Chapter President to strip her of her membership. It is behaviour we cannot allow."

"I just don't understand. She had such hatred in her this morning. What did I do to her to make her hate me?"

Shauna's face softens and she reassures me, "You didn't do anything at all. You got some attention that you didn't even ask for, and she is blind jealous over it. She wants Will, and he has shown some interest in you. She has wanted Four forever but he is interested in you too. She saw him kiss you this morning and it must have short circuited her brain for her to snap on you like she did. I am sorry it happened, but the best thing you can do now is try to pretend it didn't. Pretend that nothing she said had any effect on you, that you are above it all, and it can't touch you. Walk into that cafeteria with your head held high. You know the truth, and everyone at that table today knows it too. That is what is important. We are your friends, and we know the truth. Everyone else will get it eventually, and tomorrow will be better than today."

"Shauna, I didn't tell Four this morning in Spanish class. I didn't tell him what she called me. Does he know now? Did you tell him?"

By now we are almost to the table and I can see by the look on his face that Tobias does in fact know, and he feels responsible. I turn to Shauna, "You told him?" I can't keep the accusatory tone from my voice, and Tobias hears what I say.

He pulls the seat out next to him, so that I can sit down and Uriah speaks up before he can, "No Tris, Shauna didn't tell him, I did. I told Four about what Peter said. You told him you were upset about something that Christina had said. He put it together. What did Shauna do?"

"She kicked Christina out of her sorority I guess."

Shauna corrects me, "No, all I did was strip her. I can't kick her out without the council ruling. All I can do is bar her from meetings and events, and strip her letter privileges pending a rule."

Tobias puts his hand on my back, hesitantly, and rubs it in slow circles. I just want this day to be over. I know he is trying to help, but I can't enjoy it right now. I am too miserable.